


Not So Calm

by coolasdicks



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Drowning, M/M, Near Drowning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-10
Updated: 2014-02-10
Packaged: 2018-01-11 21:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolasdicks/pseuds/coolasdicks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt Fill:</p>
<p>"ot6, Michael+ drowning. :)"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not So Calm

Michael and Gavin enjoyed their swimmy lunch bevs together, but it was even better when it was the entire Achievement Hunter gang. And even  _better_ when it wasn’t a pool, but the large, lovely lakeTravis that was a little ways away from the office.

They’d made the plans to all take a few days off for some much needed time out together. It was just after RTX, where tempers had run high and the six never got any time alone, be it to themselves or with one another. They were thrilled to have a short vacation, all six of the boys happy to, as Barbara put it, ‘waste’ their vacation with the people they already saw everyday, only going a few hours from home. But to them, it was perfect.

Michael had gotten lucky and swiped the passenger seat from under Geoff’s nose as they got into the car, the tattooed man too preoccupied with laying out towels in the backseat so Gavin didn’t smear sunscreen all over the leather, since the Brit had accidentally pre-applied the creamy lotion before even getting to their destination. After a thorough smacking on the back of the head, Geoff was too busy making sure every inch of his precious van was covered to catch Michael sneaking into the passenger side of the car.

“Michael!” Geoff said, whining from the other side of the door. Michael giggled when Geoff flopped against the window, his face distorted and plastered on the glass. It fogged up where his mouth was, the older man breaking out into laughter, unable to keep up his rouse of anger. “C’mon, Michael, that’s not fair. Jack?”

Michael looked over to Jack, beseeching the bearded man. If anyone had the power to kick him out, it was the driver. But Jack just shook his head and grinned at the two of them, revving up the engine.

“We’re leaving, idiots!” Jack called as Ryan shut the garage door, a towel casually thrown over his shoulder. He plodded to his normal car seat – second in the row – and happily got comfortable, watching Geoff grumpily take Michael’s normal seat, bare arms crossed. Jack chuckled, and after checking to make sure everyone was safely seated with their seatbelts latched, he pulled out of the drive way.

Ray yelped in the far back as Gavin greasily slid around. “Get away from me, Vav, you’re getting me all slimy!”

Geoff whipped around in his seat. “You better not be spreading that shit all over my seats –”

“Ray!” Gavin cried. With a grin, Michael turned around to watch Gavin bat at Ray’s hands, the Puerto Rican desperately trying to push Gavin away from him. “Ray – don’t you love me?”

“Not right now!” Ray said, resorting to having to kick Gavin’s sticky lower half away from him. His converse skimmed off Gavin’s slippery skin, and Gavin left a goopy trail over Geoff’s seats as the two pushed the towels off and onto the floor. Jack made a rather sharp turn, throwing Gavin into Ray’s lap. Michael grinned at the bearded man, catching the smirk around his lips. Definitely on purpose.

“Ah, gross!” Ray howled, but he gave up in trying to push the cuddly Brit away from him, eyes going dead in defeat when sunscreen-slimy arms wrapped around him, Gavin smugly rubbing his slick cheek against Ray’s. Michael grimaced when he saw the white, creamy residue stick in Ray’s facial hair.

“You idiot!” Geoff yelled, and began trying to reach back to supposedly throttle them. The seatbelt held him back. “My leather!”

Gavin stuck his tongue out at him teasingly, but almost bite it in surprise when Geoff made a quick grab for his leg. He slipped out of Geoff’s grasp, but started screaming in fear as Geoff continued to lunge, the seatbelt clicking dangerously.

The rest of the ride continued in a similar fashion, all six men growing more and more bored as the monotonous drive went on. Of course, they found small ways to entertain themselves, some more annoying to his lovers than others, such as Gavin finding it amusing to pull small, individual strands of hair from the back of Ryan’s head, or Geoff getting retribution from Michael by slipping ice down the backrest of the redhead’s seat.

Gavin started whining about an hour into the drive, just high-pitched, extremely irritating sounds until finally Ray socked him in the stomach, making Gavin let out a scream. Thinking that the two were just letting out boredom in their own ways, Michael ignored them until Ray burst out into his rare hysterical laughter, Gavin making noises of disbelief and vague mirth. He was looking down, at his pants, with his mouth hanging open, and Ray was scrambling to sit as far away from the Brit as possible, still laughing uncontrollably.

Geoff turned around in agitation. “What the hell – GAVIN.”

“He – he hit me in the bladder,” Gavin choked out through his unruly giggles.

“You,” Geoff said, anger fading into wheezy laughter. He sounded shocked. “You pissed your pants!”

Everyone immediately burst into fits of giggles and snickers, Geoff tearing up as he hunched over, holding his gut.

“Jack!” Gavin cried out, covering the small wet patch on the front of his swim suit. “Jack, get to a gas station!”

“It’s a swimsuit, Gavin,” Michael pointed out. “It’s gonna get wet anyway. There’s no use in cleaning it off.”

Gavin gestured frantically to the stain on his trousers. “You think this is all that was in my bladder, you pleb? I still have to go!”

Jack grumbled under his breath as he started looking for a rest stop. He pulled over quickly, Gavin fleeing the car in a matter of nanoseconds. Michael followed at a much slower pace, laughing randomly as he scoured the isles for something to snack on.

He almost dropped his newly bought can of Pringles when he saw that Geoff had taken his place in the passenger seat, smugly staring at the redhead with his arms crossed as he kicked up his feet on the dashboard.

“Geoff, no!” Michael yelled, banging on the window. He pressed his forehead into the glass, much like how Geoff was doing before they’d left. Into the glass, he said, “How could you do this to me?”

“Go sit in your spot, bitch!” Geoff shouted with glee.

Michael bitched and moaned as he made his way to the open side of the van, but glowered at Ray, who was sitting in his spot. “What the hell, Ray?”

Ray looked up from where he’d been furiously wiping off globs of sunscreen from his bare thigh, his shorts pulled down, ass bare on Michael’s seat and junk out. Michael blushed at his friend’s shamelessness.

“I am commandeering this spot,” Ray said, tossing the wadded up at Jack, who put it in the cup holder. Ray pulled up his shorts.

“Your ass was just touching my seat,” Michael said weakly.

Ryan rolled his eyes as Ray got comfortable, stretching out his legs. “Like it hasn’t before,” Ryan said.

“Go sit in your own damn spot!” Michael said, ignoring the reminder of the car sex they’d all once engaged in. It wasn’t a particularly good memory, because Michael had fallen off one of the seats and hurt his shoulder, effectively ending the mood. Then Gavin had scraped up his arm after tripping out of the door. Just an unpleasant night in all.

Ray shook his head. Michael reached forward to grab his wrist and start pulling but Ray hastily buckled his seatbelt, strapping himself in. Michael growled in frustration and went to unlatch him, but Ray fended him off, apparently serious in his claim. Michael whined, looking at Jack with big eyes.

“Not involved,” Jack said carefully, clicking the AC up. “Close the door, it’s getting hot in here.”

Michael huffed out an annoyed breath. “Fuck you, Ray,” he snapped as he passed the brunette, sitting down in Ray’s original spot. There was sunscreen everywhere. “Gross,” Michael muttered as he wrapped the cleanest towel he could find around the side of his body where Gavin would be pressed up against, no doubt.

Gavin stumbled into the van, face flushed red but looking relieved. “Alright,” he sang. “To the beach!”

“Not much of a beach,” Michael grumbled as Gavin predictably squished up against him.

“Why’re you back here, Michael?” Gavin asked, looking happy to share the back seats with his boy. Michael’s eye twitched.

“I just couldn’t stand being away from your hairy, slimy ass,” Michael responded, rolling his eyes at the guys’ laughter. Jack pulled away from the parking lot and back onto the highway.

Gavin snuggled up to him, as touchy-feely as always. Michael withstood it best he could, internally groaning at the parts of his skin that brushed against Gavin’s. The Brit was beginning to dry, thank fucking Christ, but it was suffocatingly warm back there, with only one working AC unit.

They arrived at around eleven, a little later than Michael had been hoping, but he was just glad to be out of the car. Geoff had ripped absolute ass a few minutes onto the bumpy trail to their camp spot, and the entire car had stunk to high hell. Michael made a big show of emerging from the car as if it was the coming of Christ. He sucked in the reviving breaths of fresh air, lying motionless on the ground as Ryan and Jack stepped over him, setting up little, easy to put together tents so they had shade to sit under. Geoff was laughing at Michael’s reddened face while Ray pulled off his sweaty, sticky shirt and running with Gavin towards the water.

“Wait, you need water!” Jack called after them, shaking his head when they dove in anyway. Michael climbed to his feet and made to run after them, having already shed his shirt to use as a gas mask in the car, but Ryan skillfully snatched the back of his shorts, yanking him to a stop.

“Bring them these, and take one yourself,” Ryan said, handing him four water bottles.

“Four?” Michael questioned, holding the extra one up.

“Don’t get dehydrated,” Ryan answered, tossing Geoff two as well.

Michael chucked the first two at Gavin, laughing raucously when the second one bonked off his head as he floated in the pleasantly warm water. The redhead planned to slowly wade in, to enjoy the calming surf as it engulfed his body, but screamed in surprise when Gavin tackled him into the water instead, ducking his head under the current. Michael could hear Gavin’s muffled laughter from just under the surface.

The two wrestled for a while, ducking each other’s heads under the water and pants-ing one another at every opportunity until they called a truce, both boys growing tired of the vicious game. They instead took to lightly splashing Ryan and Jack, who set up a little campsite right next to the water. Michael giggled every time Gavin got a good little bit of water to land perfectly in Jack’s opened beer, causing the bearded man to glance over accusingly at the two of them, until he finally cracked and just got up to pour the fizzy beverage over the duos heads’, effectively ending that game.

Michael was floating leisurely on his back a little ways from Gavin when he bonked his head on a floating piece of driftwood. Sitting up and rubbing the spot sourly, he glanced around to see that he’d floated a fair distance from their original camp. LakeTravis had a bunch of sharp turns in its shore, and Michael had drifted around a corner to a rockier bit, where large stones and boulders hovered over the water threateningly.

Michael’s eyes lit up, and he excitedly splashed his way back over to the rest of his lovers, who were lounging in various different spots. Gavin was still in the water, but Ray had migrated to sitting in a fold-out chair with Jack, lying comfortably over the man’s bare chest, the side of his face pressed against the bearded man’s shoulder. It looked supremely uncomfortable in Michael’s opinion, especially in this heat.

“Cliff-diving!” Michael announced excitedly to Gavin, who sputtered slightly as he sat up.

“Cliffs?” Gavin repeated doubtfully, shaking his head like a dog and spraying water in all directions. He had a water bottle in hand and took a long drink, emptying it and crushing the plastic in his hands. He tossed it at Geoff, giggling as it bounced off the older man’s back.

“C’mon,” Michael urged, pushing Gavin up on the shore. It’d take less time if they just climbed over to them on land. “Ray,” Michael barked, grinning when the younger jumped, head popping up as he squinted at Michael. “C’mon, we got big rocks to jump off!”

Ray grinned and gently climbed off Jack’s chest. He took a long swig from a water bottle before running to catch up to them, Geoff close on his tail. Ryan watched them go with a defeated sigh, simply laying back down and hoping that Geoff made sure they were careful.

“Find the biggest one!” Geoff yelled, ducking as Gavin lobbed a loose branch at him. He tossed a handful of gavel and sand at him, coating Gavin’s lower back in a fine layer of pebbles.

“Agh,” Gavin growled, brushing them off and sending Geoff a dirty look.

Michael was leading the path up a rather steep hill, where the bounders began to even out into a leveled elevation. There was one that Michael had his eye on – a long drop into the water. The alcohol in his system spurred him on enthusiastically, barely paying attention to the shenanigans happening behind him.

“That one looks pretty good,” Gavin said as they reached the top, gesturing to the biggest cliff that Michael had spotted. Michael was huffing with the exertion, bending over with his hands on his knees and breathing heavily through his mouth. Gavin looked at him in tipsy sympathy, patting Michael’s bottom as comfort.

“What’s up with you?” Geoff asked, tugging up his swim suit when it started to sag downwards. “Getting a bit out of shape, Michael?”

“No,” Michael said defensively, smacking Geoff’s hands away when he grabbed at his tummy.

“You aren’t drinking enough water,” Ray pointed out. “You’re dehydrated, idiot.”

“We’ve been swimming in water all day, how am I dehydrated?” Michael said as he straightened. His mouth was feeling a little dry and he was beginning to get tired.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Ray said, but Michael was already moving forward, pointing to the biggest boulder.

“That’s a good one,” Michael said. After the slow climb up, he approached the edge with caution glancing behind him to glare at his partners. “If one of you fuckers push me in –”

“We won’t, we won’t,” Geoff said firmly, looking pointedly at Gavin, who nodded in agreement.

“We’re going back to get water after this,” Ray said sourly.

Michael leaned over the ledge, peering into the sparkly water below them. The sun was high in the sky, casting glimmering curtains over the surface of the turquoise water. “Looks deep,” Michael said, grinning and ignoring Ray.

“Who’s going first?”

Gavin answered his question by rocketing off the small cliff, the alcohol in his system fueling his bravery. Michael, Ray, and Geoff watched in awe and slight trepidation as Gavin seemed to hang in the air for an extended bout of time before plummeting into the water, creating a magnificent splash that had the rest of them whooping and cheering, from almost thirty feet up. Gavin’s head broke the surface a few seconds later, whipping his hair out of his eyes and grinning up at them.

Geoff jumped next, almost belly flopping but spinning at the last second to take the impact on his side instead. All the same, he resurfaced to give the boys two thumbs up, a rowdy grin on his face.

“My turn!” Michael yelled, imitating the jump that Gavin did, with a bit more grace. He hit the water hard, but an exhilarated thrill ran through his veins, and he let out an excited cheer when he could breathe again. “Whoo!”

Ray jumped then, landing close to Michael and pushing the redhead away with his current. They laughed, Michael splashing Ray in the face as they swam to the shore to jump again.

They climbed up the little cliff once more, this time a lot more clumsily due to their slippery bodies. Geoff was leading the trail, leaving Gavin, Michael, and Ray to slide around in his wet footprints.

They stood at the top for a moment, pausing to catch their breath, when Gavin suddenly lunged at Ray to pull down his swim suit, exposing the Puerto Rican’s surprisingly white, bare ass. Ray yelped, reaching down to yank up his pants while Gavin hastily jumped, laughing his ass off.

Michael laughed and followed. He didn’t want to land on Gavin, so he angled away from the Brit, diving in gracefully, breaking the surface of the water with pointed fingers and plunging into the cooler part of the lake. He twirled around in the water, enjoying the colder water after such a long day in the hot Texas sun.

Bubbles burst from his mouth when he felt something heavy land on his stomach and kick off, sending him barreling through the water. Something struck the back of his head as his back hit the sandy bottom. Pain sprouted and branched along the sides of his temples, causing his vision to blacken immediately. He sucked in panicked breaths, heartbeat pounding frantically as water filled his mouth and lungs. He logically should’ve stopped trying to draw breath, but all his frenzied mind could think to do was breathe.

As he inhaled more and more water, his throat felt ravaged and chest suddenly heavy. He opened his eyes after realizing they were clamped shut and looked around, seeing the glimmer of sun rays barely penetrating the water’s surface. He flailed his arms, trying to push away from the sandy lake floor, but they barely moved. He was paralyzed by fear.

Only succeeding in stirring up a terrible amount of sand and muck with his weak movements, Michael choked, his last few precious bubbles of air dribbling from his open mouth. His arms slowed until they stopped moving entirely, and he watched, oddly peaceful, as they gradually traveled up to the surface of the water, where they broke. He could see the pale legs of Geoff in the water, slowly realizing that the older man had landed on him. His vision sprouted black spots.

_I’m drowning._

_I’m going to die down here, right under Geoff, Gavin, and Ray’s feet._

As his eyes drifted shut, Michael hoped they wouldn’t blame themselves.

—-

Gavin watched as Michael launched off the top of the cliff, cheering the redhead on as he made a beautiful diver’s jump, seamlessly sinking in the water, barely making a splash.

“That was top!” Gavin yelled, but reeled back in the water when Geoff slammed – a lot less gracefully – into the spot Michael had disappeared into, seeming to come back up almost immediately.

“Oh, shit!” Geoff was laughing. “I think I accidentally kicked him – or at least something soft.”

“Where is he?” Gavin asked, peering down into the water. The sun was beginning to set, making it difficult for the Brit to see through the murk. A few seconds went by, and Gavin began to feel anxious. “Geoff, where is he?” he said, looking at Geoff with alarm.

Geoff was a few steps ahead of him, combing his arms through the water, trying to clear some of the stirred up sand. It did basically nothing, the dark murky liquid as impenetrable as ever, and Geoff’s heart began to race when Michael did not emerge within the next thirty seconds.

Gavin was just beginning to panic, Ray yelling down from the cliff with a frightened tone, when Geoff ducked down into the water, forcing his eyes to stay opened. He swam downwards, kicking his feet to propel forward, but nothing was revealed to him the deeper he went.

The seconds ticked by.

His hands touched the sand and mud, but he was beginning to run out of air. He held out searching hands in an attempt to feel for his lover’s body. It took a few moments of kicking off with his feet and waving his tattooed arms around, but his fingers finally brushed against something smooth and fleshy.

_Michael._

His fingertips scrabbled to make purchase on his boyfriend’s body, but he finally managed to wrap tight hands around Michael’s abnormally cold waist. He used his own body as leverage to lift Michael’s body into his arms, the water making this feat impossibly hard. As soon as Michael’s entire weight was centered in Geoff’s arms, he kicked off from the ground, legs working as hard as they could to push the two of them to the surface.

As soon as his face was above the water, Gavin’s screaming pretty much blew out his eardrums. The Brit was milling about in the water, shrieking and calling desperately for Michael, the redhead’s name garbled and broken on the other’s lips. Geoff slung Michael’s lifeless – oh god, _no,_ not lifeless, just motionless – body over his shoulder and paddled to the shore, struggling to keep them both afloat.

A pair of hands – definitely not Gavin’s, because the Brit was off in Geoff distant peripheral – took some of the load off by helping to carry Geoff’s burden. It was Ray, he could hear the man’s deep voice asking him  _what happened, was he breathing, was he okay?_ but Geoff couldn’t get the words, much less any legible answers, to come out. His heart was pounding madly in his chest, his pulse loud in his head.

He crawled onto land, barely managing to flop Michael’s unmoving body into the rocky shore. Half in the water and half out, Geoff cradled Michael’s cheeks, eyes searching his face desperately. The redhead’s eyes were closed, his cupid-bow lips starting to turn blue.

“Michael, Michael,” Geoff heard his own voice chanting. “Michael, please –”

“Geoff, shut up,” said a completely new voice. Geoff looked up, water running from his hair and into his eyes, just barely making out the blurry image of Ryan leaning down next to him. He pried his hands away.

“Ry – Ryan,” Geoff croaked in confusion, allowing the blonde to gently push him away. “Where –?”

“Shut up.” Falling to his knees, Ryan held his ear a few inches from Michael’s mouth and nose, the silence suddenly deafening. Geoff lost his mind in those few seconds, the long pause where Ryan listened for any signs that Michael was breathing driving Geoff’s sanity into the ground. His own breath, too, was stolen from him, his chest seeming to deflate when Ryan pulled back, face pale and expression shocked, horrified.

“He isn’t breathing.”

A second. Only for a second did Geoff allow his mind to scream, his heart to collapse, his stomach curl in on itself. Only for one fucking second did he let the fear take over, overwhelm him, the pure, unadulterated despair dragging him down as far as he would –  _could_ let it. After that damn, terrifying second, he took back control.

He knelt next to Michael’s head, the appearance of the moon making his lover look dead. The soft red curls that Geoff would so often run his hands through, brush out the tangles in, or even grip tightly during the passions of sex, were limply sprawled out on the rocks beneath Michael’s head, their redness dulled to the point of just looking gray. His skin, in contrast, looked like silky alabaster, all smooth lines and a single shade.

Geoff stopped himself from antagonizing over it and forced his trembling hands to pinch Michael’s nose closed and grip his chin, opening his boyfriend’s mouth and enclosing his own over it, making sure to tilt Michael’s head back so that the air he breathed into his love was going to his lungs, not his stomach.

He pulled in shaky breath and breath, feeling Michael’s chest expand with each artificial inhale. Nothing happened.

Sitting up, he watched as Ryan did compressions, the blonde fortunately knowing CPR as well and knowing how to administer the quick, rapid beats. His hands slid around on Michael’s smooth skin on each compression.

Nothing happened.

Geoff leaned back down as soon as Ryan stopped, breathing into his boyfriend’s body. He had to fight himself not to let a broken sob escape, his breath hitching and catching regardless. He wasn’t crying, however. His army training had beaten into him the top three first aid rules:

Do not panic.

Crying will help no one.

Not everyone can be saved.

“Dammit,” he heard Ryan whimper, the compressions not seeming to do a fucking thing. He forced his palms deeper into Michael’s chest, and a few crunching sounds were heard, but the blonde didn’t stop, going at it harder than ever. Geoff saw tears dripping down Ryan’s nose, falling noiselessly onto Michael’s skin.

He looked at Geoff expectantly when it was his turn. Geoff stared at him, his mind going blank.

“Go, Geoff!” Ryan yelled at him, voice breaking.

Geoff did. Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Please.

Geoff almost shouted in shock when he felt Michael’s lips move of their own accord, jerking back immediately to allow the redhead to gag and choke. Michael’s hand weakly clutched at his arm as he retched violently, water pouring out of his mouth as he rolled onto his side. He coughed and seemed to melt, his arms doing a shit job of supporting him. Lying on his side, Michael continued to hack and gasp as the Geoff almost sobbed in relief, leaning his head against the younger’s upper arm and listening to his sounds of life.

“Christ,” Geoff breathed against his skin. “Christ.”

A hand was rubbing his back soothingly. He welcomed the comfort.

Ryan was doing some intense questioning as Geoff sat on the sidelines, feeling his heartbeat gradually slow to its normal rate.

“Can you hear me alright?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah,” Michael coughed. More water came up, Michael spitting it out. The redhead’s energy was drained and he let his head fall to the ground. Gavin seemed to materialize next to him, catching and holding his skull in his lap.

“Can you stand?”

Michael was quiet, taking a long time to answer. Geoff got the feeling that he wasn’t going to.

“I think,” he said, in a shaky voice, “I think we can manage to carry him back, don’t you think?”

Jack nodded from where he crouched next to Geoff. He’d been the one with his hand on Geoff’s back. Rising to his feet, Jack, aided by Ryan and Geoff, picked Michael up from the ground, the younger man barely able to keep his head up. Jack shifted the redhead around until he was bridal-carrying him, propping his head up with his arm. Michael looked thankful, eyes drooping in exhaustion as he leaned against Jack’s warm, dry body.

It was a treacherous walk back, but they made it without slipping or stumbling. Ray, Gavin, and Geoff were shivering, thanking Ryan quietly when the blonde quickly grabbed them a new pair of clothes and a few heavy blankets. Ray was quick to cover up the scrapes and bleeding cuts he’d received when basically rolling down the cliff face in his hurry to get to the water. Meanwhile, Jack had set Michael down in one of their fold-out chairs while he made him a nest out of the thickest blankets he could find. He picked Michael back up and set him in the middle of it, covering the redhead’s shuddering body and placing his head on a pillow, as Ryan brought out their supply bag from the van and started digging through it.

Ryan scooted closer, running a gentle finger along the curve of Michael’s cheekbone. His touch soon turned into a medical examination, opening Michael’s half-lidded eyes and shining a small flash light into the brown orbs. Ryan made an approving sound when he saw the pupils were even.

“How do you feel?”

Gavin gave a nervous jittery laugh. “How do you think he feels?”

Ryan sent him a glare over his shoulder. “I’m sorry – are you the one with the head injury? Should I be asking  _you_ these questions?”

Gavin went uncharacteristically quiet, fiddling with the end of his blanket. He and Ray were sitting in the fold-out chairs, huddled against each other.

Ryan shook his head, trying to clear the waspishness from his voice. There was no need to be snappy – Gavin had suffered through the trauma just as much as he did. “Sorry, Gav,” Ryan apologized, smiling when Gavin nodded in acceptance.

Jack helped Geoff back to the camp, consoling the tattooed man with firm pats on the back. Geoff was feeling a little better after emptying the contents of his stomach by the lakeside.

“You okay, Geoff?” Ryan asked lightly, stroking Michael’s temple.

“Yeah,” Geoff said shortly. “What time is it? Does anyone’s phone have service? How far away is the nearest hospital?”

“No hospital,” Michael whispered. No one listened to him.

“I don’t have any bars,” Ray said with a frown. Everyone echoed the same result when they got their phone out of the bag by the tent. “We’d have to get further towards the nearest town.”

“Michael?” Ryan asked gently. “How do you feel?”

Michael was having trouble opening his eyes. “Headache,” he said, words slurred. “Tired… headache.”

Gavin and Ray shared a worried look.

“Where does your head hurt, Michael?” Ryan asked calmly.

“Mmm… back of it,” Michael murmured, brow furrowing. He was burying his face into the many bundles of blankets around him.

Ryan’s hands were cold on his scalp as he felt around for an injury, biting his lip when his fingers came back red. He held a flashlight in his mouth as he hunted around for the wound, eyes narrowing at the small welt on the back of his lover’s head, the skin split open slightly. It was sluggishly dipping blood into the redhead’s hair.

“Do you know what happened to you?” Ryan asked. “Michael?” he said when he didn’t reply, instead blinking blearily at Geoff, who was white-faced as he stood next to Michael’s little nest of pillows and blankets.

“Huh?”

“Do you know what happened to you?”

“Went camping,” Michael answered. His faint grin left Ryan thinking that he was probably being smart with them.

“I’m serious, Michael,” Ryan sighed.

Michael sniffed. “Went face first off a cliff,” he said dully.

“Not on purpose,” Gavin provided. “He didn’t fall.”

“Went face first off a cliff on purpose,” Michael amended.

“Did you hit your head?” Ryan asked.

Michael paused. He blinked, clarity leaking into his eyes. “No,” he said after glancing at Geoff.

“Yes,” Ryan corrected him, frowning. He glanced over at Geoff when the tattooed man leaned over to whisper in his ear.

“I landed on top of him. Pretty sure he bonked his head off the bottom after that.”

Ryan instantly understood what Geoff was getting at. “Michael,” Ryan said slowly. “Don’t worry about Geoff feeling bad.”  _He already does._ “We need truthful answers, or else we won’t know how bad it is.”

Michael took a long time to answer. Finally, he reluctantly said, “Yes.”

“Do you remember how?”

He paused again. “Hit something from above and then hit my head on a rock,” Michael hedged. “Couldn’t… couldn’t breathe…”

“You can breathe now,” Jack soothed, petting his hair. He combed gently through the curls as they dried, easing Michael’s nerves.

“Do you think you can stand?” Ryan asked softly. “Are you dizzy? Nauseous?”

“Don’t know,” Michael said in a small voice, that supposedly being his answer for all three questions.

“Is it okay if we pick you up, Michael?” Ryan said.

“Can I get warm first?” Michael asked, looking at Ryan with big, rusty brown eyes. “And dry?”

Ryan smiled, unable to refuse that pitiful plea. “Of course,” he said, stroking his boyfriend’s cheek, just across the bone. Michael leaned into the touch. “But we have to go to the hospital soon.”

“Right,” Michael sighed. He let the muscles in his neck relax, his head falling backwards onto a pillow. Eyes gritty and body aching, Michael dozed off in a light sleep, where he mindlessly listened to his boyfriends converse around him, probably about him. Normally he’d be all ears, but now he just couldn’t muster up the energy to even stop himself from snoring softly.

He forced his eyes open when he felt warm hands snaking underneath his body and propping him up. Another pair snuck under his legs and together, they lifted from his pile of warmth.

The others gave a small laugh at the cry of protest that fell from his lips. “Wait – no, I’m not completely dry yet,” Michael complained, trying his best to struggle but only managing a weak twitch.

He heard Gavin chuckle from somewhere to his right, a hand ruffling his curls. “You’re hair’s all dry, silly. You’ve been asleep for half an hour.”

Michael mumbled nonsensical words in response, his chin falling forward as he once more began to drift off.

“Which way is the nearest town?” Geoff questioned aloud as they quickly packed up their supplies. Luckily, knowing that they would only be spending one night here, they hadn’t packed much, and it only took a few minutes to have the van ready to go.

Jack, the familiar Austin-ite of the group, rattled off some of the local cities and towns. The nearest one was about twenty minutes away. It didn’t seem to be a problem for Michael, who was snuggled in the backseat with Ray, who had instantly called dibs on being the one who got to sit with him. Gavin and Ryan anxiously turned around multiple times during the drive, looking to Ray for confirmation that the redhead was alright. Still breathing. Each time they were met with a comforting nod.

Ray was almost reluctant to let Jack lumber to the back of the van and pick Michael up from his lap. He’d been enjoying carding his fingers through Michael’s wild hair, stroking the soft skin of the other’s cheek, and even laying gentle kisses to the soft, pliable lips. He couldn’t stand the thought of those lips under his being blue just hours before.

—-

Michael woke up with a jolt.

“Ah!” he gasped, jerking and hitting his arms against something metal. His eyes shot open, heart beating fast in his chest. He heard the frantic beeping of the heart monitor and breathed heavily through his nose in order to not attract a nurse.

His head spun as he tried to sit up, his arms feeling like jelly when he raised them to rub at his tired, grainy eyes. He felt a tug at the crook of his wrist and looked down, grimacing at the long tube connecting his arm to a large baggie of clear IV fluid. He let his arm fall back to the bed while running his hand through his tangled hair.

He was sitting a large, white hospital bed in an even bigger hospital room. It was completely empty, not only of company, but even the walls were white, the ceiling and floor just completely blank. His head throbbed.

Taking a few long, deep breaths, Michael tried not to panic. He knew not to take out the IV, as it was dangerous and in there for a reason, but he was confused and worried. Where was everyone else?

“Nurse!” Michael yelled impatiently. He repeated it again, a little louder, “Nurse!”

Michael had to wait a few minutes until a woman in a lab coat, medical scrubs underneath, walked through his open door. She was toting a clipboard and a big smirk.

“Lady,” Michael said, but she cut him off with a sharp look.

“Doctor Brown,” she corrected. “How are you feeling, Mr. Jones?”

“Fine, Michael said quickly, “Why am I here? Uh – did anyone  _bring_ me or –”

“Your companions are in the lobby downstairs,” she smiled kindly, stepping forward to stand next to his bedside. She addressed her clipboard and scribbled a few things down. “They were kicked out a few hours ago after causing too much noise.”

“So why am I here?” Michael said as he relaxed back into the pillows.

“You had near drowning,” she said, schooling her expression into a more professional mask. “The best we can guess is that head trauma disorientated you while under water and in your state, you found it hard to figure out which way was up.”

Michael swallowed heavily. He remembered none of this, the last memory he had just a blur of images from floating in the lake with Gavin. The ache in his head suddenly made sense. He raised his hand to feel for a lump, but his fingers bumped into something soft. Gauze and cloth from a small bandage.

“Only a few stitches,” she reassured him. “Would you like for me to call your partners back up?”

Michael blushed at her reference to them but nodded, hands curling in the bed sheet. She smiled sweetly at him and made to leave the room.

“Wait!” Michael called after a pause. She turned to look at him, patiently waiting. “Are they… all alright?”

She frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”

“They’re all okay, too, right?” Michael said, biting his lip.

Doctor Brown smiled in understanding. She sighed, shaking her head at him. “They’re all shaken up, and Mr. Narvaez had some scrapes and bruises, but they’re fine. Worried, but okay.”

Michael relaxed his tense muscles at the answer he was so desperately waiting for. “Thank you,” he said graciously, mustering up a smile. He felt bone tired.

She nodded, but hesitated at the doorway. “Before I leave,” she said, her body halfway out of the room. “There’s some damage to your lungs. You’ll be on antibiotics for a while and your caregivers have already been informed to watch closely for any symptoms of the aftereffects. We’re unsure of exactly how long you were medically dead, so we’ve kept you here a few nights, but there doesn’t seem to be any neurological damage. But no overuse of the lungs. And don’t pull out your stitches.”

She left with a wink, leaving Michael to mull over all this information. Medically dead? He wondered for how long, who brought him back and how.

Honestly, he was pretty sure his boyfriends were in worse shape than he was.

“She lied to me,” Michael mused when they first zombie-shuffled through the door. One by one, each one looking deader than the next. Oily hair, overgrown facial hair, and heavy bags under their eyes made Michael’s heart break.

They looked glad to see him, but could barely walk, much less show their obvious enthusiasm. Jack ambled forward, hugged Michael’s head to his stomach, and promptly fell into the bedside chair, snoring. Ryan ruffled his hair and curled up on the floor, snuggling into a pile of blankets that Michael hadn’t noticed earlier. Gavin and Ray both pecked him on the cheek, murmuring something about how glad they were that he was okay before curling up around Ryan.

Geoff was last, still standing by the door with big eyes as he stared at Michael. The redhead stared back at him, uncomprehending.

He didn’t object as Geoff slid into bed with him, pushing his cold hands and feet into Michaels warm skin. Geoff’s nose was an ice cube against his neck.

“Geoff?” Michael questioned quietly, worried. He stroked the man’s hair comfortingly.

“No more camping trips,” Geoff said, voice muffled by Michael’s hospital gown as he tightened his hold on the redhead.

Michael just laughed and hugged him closer. 


End file.
